


Before the Dance

by REDDuke62



Series: Don't Dance [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-23 14:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10721019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/REDDuke62/pseuds/REDDuke62
Summary: Five times someone else offered an opinion or observed Oliver and Felicity together and the one time someone offered advice to Felicity.These short vignettes take place before the events of "I Thought You Didn't Dance?."  Family and friends make observations and offer advice to Oliver on his attraction to a certain bubbly blonde.  Felicity eventually gets some advice as well.Still no real plot to this whole thing, but these shorter pieces provide some context to Oliver and Felicity's relationship prior to the Annual Queen Family Christmas Charity Dinner and Auction.





	1. Early July - Robert Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First of five times someone else offered an opinion on Oliver and Felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robert Queen surprises Oliver with lunch, some news and some advice.

It was rare for Robert Queen and his son, Oliver, to go to lunch together. Despite working in the same building for more than five years, their jobs often made it so that their schedules didn’t coincide. In the last year, that almost always seemed to be the case, so when Robert’s secretary had messaged Oliver around ten-thirty one morning asking about lunch, the younger man was surprised. He quickly agreed and now they were sitting at Geno’s Deli, a small eatery about six blocks from the QC headquarters in downtown Starling City.

They had barely taken their seats after ordering when the young girl working behind the counter delivered their food. Both men took a couple of bites of their sandwiches before Robert leaned back in his chair.

“So…”

Oliver looked up at his father. He had felt pretty sure that Robert had something specific he wanted to discuss when the older man had invited him to lunch.

Oliver pointed a finger at his father. “I knew you had something specific in mind.”

Robert shrugged, smiling. “I can’t just invite my son to lunch?”

“Oh, you can. But you rarely do.”

Robert considered that for a minute, before he laughed. “You’re right. We need to do this more often. And you’re right, I do have something I want to talk about, but it’s nothing bad. I promise.”

Oliver laughed softly. “Okay. What’s up.”

“I’m planning on stepping down at the end of the year. From full time responsibilities, anyway. I want you to take over all day to day running of the company.”

Oliver just looked at him for a good couple of minutes. Neither man said anything. Robert knew his son well enough to know that he was going to need to weigh the situation.

Finally Oliver asked, “You think I’m ready for that?”

Robert laughed. “You’ve been doing most of it for the past year. I’ve been delegating most of the daily decision making to you for quite a while. So yeah, I think you’re ready.”

Oliver looked surprised for minute, but then he starting considering all the things that he had been handling in recent months. “What the heck are you doing up there in your office then? Watching cat videos?”

Robert really smiled at that and he shook his head. “I’ve only watched the ones that your sister sends me. I have been concentrating on our relationships with investors and structuring the stockholders so that we maintain a firm control on the direction of the board. As you know, we have a couple of directors that seem to constantly gripe about the direction of the company. I’ve been making sure that their voice is as ineffectual as possible.”

Oliver nodded in agreement. He knew the two directors his dad was referring to. They had both wished that they could remove the two men from the board, but hadn’t quite gotten there yet.

“That’s the kind of thing that I will keep doing, but I don’t need to be in the office every day to do that. Your mother and I would like to do some more traveling without every trip having a business purpose. I’m thinking that I’ll come in a couple of times a week, continue to handle the PR events and the like and let you do what you are really good at: building the number of products and services the company offers. I’m very proud of the direction we’ve been heading in the last two or three years and that’s on you, Oliver.”

Oliver allowed himself a minute of pride, but he started thinking about the shift in leadership. “I take it you’ve been thinking about the transition?”

Robert shrugged again. “Some. We won’t make a public announcement until close to the end of the year. That gives us nearly six months to further pave the way. The board already knows what I’m planning. Calvin Dennis literally yelled at me for five minutes when I first laid out the plan to them. I finally told him to stop acting like a baby and that while I would like all of the board’s support, I didn’t need it. That shut him up for a while. Most of them have been as impressed as I have with the company’s direction, so really you won’t have much problem with that.

“I do want us to sit down soon and review the current management. I want you to make changes in personnel anywhere you think you need to. I’ve talked to most of my senior officers and let them know what I’ve got planned. Nobody immediately indicated that they were ready to retire, and honestly I feel like we have a very strong group of executives, but you need to make sure that they fit with your plan going forward.”

Oliver indicated his agreement. “I agree we should do that, but I feel like I get along with and can work with everybody we currently have in place.”

“Good.” Robert hesitated for a minute. “There’s something else that I wanted to talk to you about, and you’re probably not going to like this. Well, you won’t like the fact that I’ve brought it up. Please keep an open mind for a couple of minutes and realize that I have your best interests at heart.”

Oliver gave his father a questioning look, but nodded. “Okay. What have you got?”

“Have you considered taking your relationship with Miss Smoak to a personal level?”

“Whaaaaat?” Oliver’s question came out much louder than he expected, and he quickly looked around to see if anyone had turned to look at him. Fortunately, he and his father were isolated enough that no one had reacted to his outburst.”

“Why would you ask that, Dad?”

Robert gave his son a patronizing look before explaining, “Oliver, you aren’t very subtle when it comes to Felicity Smoak. I’ve been pretty sure that you are quite … smitten … with her for some time. I certainly understand. That young woman is … a lot of things, including being a wonderful match for you.”

Oliver scrubbed a hand over his face.

“You’re right, Dad. Felicity is a wonderful woman, but don’t you think she’s probably a little too good for me. I’m not much of a catch at this point. A little too much baggage, especially for someone like Felicity.”

“Oliver, how exactly do you think people see you?”

“I imagine that most of them still remember all the stupid things I’ve done in the past and think that I’m where I am because of my family. I know quite a few people that are convinced that I couldn’t possible have gotten where I am on my own merits. Calvin Dennis, for example.”

Robert waved dismissively at that. “Calvin Dennis is an idiot. He’s no judge of anything, let alone people. Oliver, while I’m sure that there are still people that see you as you were when you were twenty, there are a lot more people who see you as the strong, innovative leader of Queen Consolidated. I’m going to guess that Felicity is one of those people.”

Oliver’s look was still one of disbelief.

“I mention this because I want you to consider something else. When I first started really running Queen Consolidated, your mother was a big part of my success. She kept me grounded. She contributed an incredible amount to making the company what it is today. She was a partner to me in every way, and I like to think she made me a better man. I am a firm believer that a man needs someone like that supporting him, and something tells me that you and Felicity could be that type of couple. I’ve seen the two of you interact and it seems to me that you are already in synch a lot of the time.”

Oliver smirked. “Are you actively suggesting that I get romantically involved with one of my employees? Isn’t that against company policy or something?”

Robert grinned back at his son. “Actually, no. It is not in this case. While HR policy does set some boundaries for personal relationships between employees, it doesn’t bar them. And Felicity doesn’t directly work for you. She works with you a lot, but she actually reports up through finance. I think she should be given a C-level position anyway. I’d like to see us have a separate CISO appointed and running information security before we have an incident. Can you think of anybody better suited than Felicity?”

“No.”

“Good. Now all you need to do is ask her out.”

Oliver was quiet for a couple of minutes. “I’ll tell you what. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not attracted to her. If I’m being honest, I haven’t even looked at another woman with any interest in a long time. I had kinda given up even considering dating until I met Felicity. But I’m not quite ready just yet to ask her out.”

The older man looked at his son for a minute. “Alright, I can understand that. But you realize that the fact that you are willing to think through this and do it right is pretty much proof that you are the kind of man that she deserves and have long ago stopped being the man you think you still are?”

Oliver snorted at that, signaling the end of the discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Moira Queen.


	2. Mid August - Moira Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second of five times someone else offered an opinion on Oliver and Felicity.
> 
> These short vignettes take place before the events of "I Thought You Didn't Dance?." Family and friends make observations and offer advice to Oliver on his attraction to a certain bubbly blonde.
> 
> I'm still not sure there's any real plot to this whole thing, but these shorter pieces provide some context to Oliver and Felicity's relationship prior to the Annual Queen Family Christmas Charity Dinner and Auction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robert Queen shares his observations on Oliver and Felicity at work during the weekly Queen dinner at the mansion. It takes a while for Moira to understand.

Moira Queen was a selfish woman when it came to her family. She demanded that they still had one meal together weekly and usually pushed for two: Sunday morning brunch and Wednesday evening dinner. And although she didn’t always get her way, more often than not she did, this evening being a perfect example. Her daughter Thea was still a pretty sure bet to attend since she lived at the mansion while attending Starling City University. It helped that once Thea had made it through a fairly rebellious period in high school, she and Moira had managed to reconnect and build a stronger relationship then they had had when Thea was little. Moira didn’t even mind the regular appearance of Thea’s boyfriend Roy Harper at either of the family meals; despite his rough background, Roy was a good guy and Moira had grown fond of the young man.

Moira’s son Oliver’s attendance was a little less reliable since he had moved out of the mansion, but his absence was usually due to very good reasons, such as the regular business trips he took on behalf of Queen Consolidated. As long as he was in town, he made every effort to attend, often riding out to the mansion with his father at the end of the day on Wednesday, staying overnight in his old room and then going back to work with his father in the morning. Moira was the happiest when both her children were at home with her.

Tonight’s meal was no exception. Oliver and Robert had actually left work early and had spent some time enjoying a perfect summer afternoon on the large patio in the garden behind the family’s home. Both had seemed as relaxed as Moira had seen either of them in some time and she was determined to get one or the other to explain what had put them into such a good mood.

When dinner was announced, the four Queens sat down to their normal places at the table in the smaller dining room: Moira and Robert facing each with Moira’s back to kitchen door and Oliver and Thea sitting across from one another on the sides. As Moira sat down, Robert and Oliver were still discussing something from their work day.

“I really think that the energy storage cell project is going to pay off big,” Robert was commenting as the maid placed small salads in front of each of them.

Moira tried to stay up to date with the goings on at the company, even though it had been a few years since she had actively participated in any phase of the operations. This didn’t sound like a project she had heard of before, though.

“Is this something new?” she asked, surprising both her husband and her son.

It was Robert who answered. “It’s a project that has been floated around for a while. We knew what we wanted to produce, but didn’t have anybody in the Applied Sciences division who could figure out how to make it happen.”

Oliver joined in. “That is until Felicity recommended a guy she knew from MIT. He’s pretty quirky, but he gets the science. In the ten months since we hired him, he’s taken the original idea and completely reinvented it. I think we’ll be able to have a prototype by end of the year or soon after.”

His father turned to look at him. “So you do agree with that timeframe?”

Oliver nodded. “Of course I do.”

Robert smiled. “So why give Felicity such a hard time about it?

Oliver laughed. “Believe it or not, that wasn’t what I was trying to do. You have to admit that her reaction was well worth it, though.”

Moira stopped them at this point. “Wait a minute. Who is this Felicity again and what does she have to do with all of this?”

Oliver spoke first. “Felicity Smoak is our cybersecurity expert. She also has a great feel for project management, so we have her sit in on all of the project review meetings. She questions everything and makes sure we don’t forget the less obvious considerations.”

Robert continued, “She’s probably the smartest person in the whole company. In this case, she’s part of the project team since the power cell will have built-in smart technology. It’s her job to make sure that the programming in the cell is secured.”

“Okay,” Moira said, indicating that she was following so far.

Robert smirked. “She also may be the unintentionally funniest person I know. She certainly got your son this morning.”

Oliver shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. “You really don’t have to tell this story.”

Robert grinned back. “Oh, I think I do, son.” He looked back at Moira.

“Felicity and Oliver have the most complicated working relationship I have ever seen. Depending on when you see them working together, you’d think that they either hate each other or have been married for a dozen years.”

“Dad,” Oliver warned, but there wasn’t much heat to his objection.

“On Wednesday mornings we have a product review meeting. All the division heads attend in addition to Oliver and me, Walter and Felicity Smoak. So anyway, the project manager for the power cell has just laid out the timeline for development…”

“And I expressed some concern when he said the prototype would be done in nine months or less. He didn’t really support the timeline very well,” Oliver added. Then he admitted, “I was a little short when questioning things.”

Robert again picked up the story again, “So Felicity cuts in and says ‘Don’t be a half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerf-herder, Oliver.’ The entire room went silent. No one makes a sound. Until Oliver finally looks up the table at her and responds with a completely straight face, ‘Who’s scruffy-looking?’”

Moira looked horrified. “Well, I certainly hope you reprimanded this young woman. That’s no way to talk to a senior officer in the company.” She looked over at her son, who was nearly laughing again at the memory of the meeting. When she looked back at her husband, he again wore a wide grin.

“Mom, first of all, the line is from Star Wars. The princess calls Han Solo that because he is constantly being arrogant well beyond what a reasonable person should be. The whole point of Felicity being in these meetings is to call out anyone on their BS. Even me. She might have missed my attempt at sarcasm, but she was right in defending the product team. I just didn’t think they’d explained themselves well.”

Robert continued the story. “Once Oliver had replied with the right response, the entire room broke out laughing, your son being the loudest. Felicity then proceeded to engage Oliver in a ten minute discussion over the value of the product’s potential versus the team failure to explain themselves well, both of them ignoring the fifteen other people in the room. By the time they were done, everyone had a much greater understanding of the product. We were also all a little overwhelmed with the passion that both Oliver and Felicity have when debating.”

Moira just looked confused. “So you are saying that this impertinent young woman actually accomplishes something with her behavior? I don’t see it.”

Robert nodded his head. “While she has a tendency to say what’s on her mind in amusing ways, she is always on point. The Star Wars reference was just a bonus.”

“Dad’s right. I think Felicity calls me out on something at least once a week. It’s not always as comical as this, and usually she’s standing in front of my desk stomping her high-heeled foot, but she’s usually right in doing so. She’s doing exactly what we want and need her to do for the company.”

Moira looked confused, which was not something that happened very often. She looked again at her son. “You don’t have a problem with this kind of rudeness from her? She sounds very disrespectful. You are going to be CEO eventually, you know. How is that going to look if she is like this when you are running the company?”

Oliver just grinned. “Mom, I would be disappointed if she did anything less. I have had her working on projects I oversee for as long as I can remember. And while it may seem that she is disrespectful, there is no one I trust more than Felicity Smoak.”

Oliver’s father added, “Believe or it not, Felicity Smoak, whatever she says, never comes across as rude.” He looked over at his son before he continued. “I don’t think Oliver minds too much, anyway. As I said, half the time you’d think that he and Felicity are married based on the way they interact. I’ve tried to convince him that he should take her out, but so far I’ve hadn’t had any luck.”

“I’m still not sure that would be such a good thing, Dad. Everyone thinks that she works for me. How would that look?”

“Like you have excellent taste in women, most likely,” Robert said way too cheerfully.

“Robert! Oliver’s right. Think of how that would look to the rest of the company. Besides, how much do you know about this girl?”

“Trust me, Moira. Felicity Smoak is worthy. She grew up with just her mother in Vegas, so she learned to work hard early in life. She’s smart. Really smart. Certified genius smart. She started college at sixteen, at MIT, and graduated with two Masters degrees in the same time it takes good students to get their Bachelor’s degree. Her contributions to the company are invaluable. And she puts up with your son.”

Thea, who had been quietly listening up until now, finally chipped in. “Gee, it sounds like she’s way too smart for you, Ollie.”

Oliver shrugged. “She probably is. More importantly, she’s probably too good for me. On top of everything else, Felicity is the best person I know. She is the most positive person I have ever met, and I don’t want to spoil that. My interactions with Felicity are always professional,” he finished somewhat defensively.

Moira frowned at that. “Oliver, you shouldn’t talk like that. You’re a good man. I would think any woman would be honored to be your … girlfriend.”

“Experience tells me that the women who normally want to spend time with me do so for my name or my money. And my reputation pretty much guarantees that any woman who might want more is going to be scared off.”

Moira scoffed. “But you aren’t that person any more, Oliver!” Moira hadn’t really understood until just now how Oliver viewed himself. She knew that he hadn’t dated in years, but she hadn’t known why.

“No, I’m not. But that doesn’t sell tabloids, mother. The _Starling Sentinel_ would much rather remind people of who I was in the past then talk about who I am now.”

“Then it’s a good thing that you do know a Felicity Smoak, Oliver.” Everyone’s attention turned back to Robert. “We both know that she is curious enough to have fully googled you and smart enough to ignore everything that doesn’t match up to the person she knows.”

Oliver shook his head. “While that’s probably true, Dad, I wouldn’t feel right putting Felicity under the microscope that is my life. That’s assuming that she sees me as anything more than her boss or a friend. And there’s still the fact that we work together.”

“You know, Oliver,” Robert said with a grin, “While your Mother is correct that you need to be careful about office romances, they do tend to allow you to really get to know a person.”

“Robert!”

“Dad, I don’t think…”

“Moira, are you forgetting that you and I met while you worked for the company? Granted our relative jobs were different, but we still interacted on a regular basis. I think that the situation turned out alright for us.”

“Just because you and I worked out, doesn’t mean that Oliver has to marry some woman that works for the company,” Moira objected.

“Of course not, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t either. Especially if it is someone as all-around exceptional as Felicity Smoak.”

Moira considered that for a long minute. “Oliver, I obviously don’t know this young lady yet, but I would like to meet her. If what you and your father say about her is true, I would imagine that if she does like you, then she’d be willing to put up with all aspects of your life, not just the appealing ones. And I can tell you from experience, it’s not really fair for you to decided what Felicity wants to do.”

Thea grinned at Oliver. “That may be the closest you’ll ever get to approval from Mom, big brother. You’d better run with it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Tommy Merlyn


	3. September - Tommy Merlyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Third of five times someone offers Oliver an opinion on his relationship with Felicity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy Merlyn first hears of Oliver's fondess for Felicity.

By the time Oliver Queen made it to Verdant to meet Tommy, he was half-an-hour late. He handed the keys to his black BMW to the valet and stepped around the back of the car before heading toward the door. He had only taken a couple of steps when a car horn honked behind him. Without really thinking, he turned to see where the sound was coming from. He laughed when he realized that the honk was aimed at him; Tommy Merlyn had just pulled to a stop in his red Porsche. Oliver stayed where he was until the other man joined him on the sidewalk.

“I thought I was always the late one,” the Queen heir said as his friend came alongside him.

“Finance meeting. Those guys never shut up. Dad skipped out halfway through the meeting which meant I had to stay.”

Oliver nodded in understanding. “Conference call with Moscow. Thank goodness those guys get up early. I’d be in the office all evening otherwise.”

“Oh man, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with much of the overseas stuff right now.”

The doorman acknowledged the two men with a little dip of his head. Oliver and Tommy were not only still occasional patrons of Verdant, but were two thirds of the ownership group. Every employee was trained to recognize them and make sure they were taken care of when they did visit the club.

Oliver grinned to himself when he heard the partial shout from one of the guys standing outside the door protesting the fact the he and Tommy had bypassed the line. He used to love to throw that privilege in the face of some of the idiots they ran into at clubs. He tried not to do that anymore, but at the same time, he wasn’t going to wait to enter his own club.

Once inside the door, they were greeted by the bouncer sitting a few feet away from the door. Tommy returned the man’s greeting as they moved passed him. They headed for the bar to grab a drink and say hello to Oliver’s sister Thea. She was the third owner and the only one who spent any time working in the club since both Oliver and Tommy worked full time.

By the time Oliver and Tommy reached the bar, the bartender had set up a glass of whiskey for each of them. Not seeing his sister around, Oliver asked Arturo if she was in yet. The man replied that she had just slipped in the back to grab a couple of new bottles and that he would send her over to their table when she was done. Oliver nodded in acknowledgement and the two moved away from the bar.

Oliver and Tommy easily moved to their table through the thin early evening crowd. They had no more than sat down before a server sidled up to their table. Molly had worked at Verdant almost from the beginning. She was cute, had a great personality and was a very good waitress.

“Good evening, Mr. Merlyn, Mr. Queen. Would you like anything from the kitchen this evening?”

“How’s the salmon, Molly?” Tommy asked.

“Should be very fresh. I think we got a shipment early this afternoon.”

“I’ll have a grilled salmon steak. Normal sides. Oh, and a glass of water, please.”

Molly turned to look at Oliver.

“I’ll have the Reuben. My normal sides as well.”

“I’ll get this in for you gentlemen. Thanks.” Molly’s gaze lingered on Oliver for a couple of seconds longer than necessary, a shy smile on her face. She finally turned and headed toward the kitchen.

Tommy reached over and slapped Oliver’s chest with the back of his hand. “Ya know, Mr. Single, I’m guessing that Molly would go out with you in a heartbeat. If you’d only ask. She’s a good looking girl and pretty smart, I think.”

“Tommy. I am not asking out one of the waitresses in our club. That’s just … no, I don’t do that kind of thing anymore,” Oliver said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I know. When’s the last time you’ve actually been on a date? Of any kind?” Tommy asked. Oliver picked up on the note of concern in his voice.

“It’s been a long time,” a familiar voice chimed in. Looking up, both men saw Thea Queen standing in front of them, a big grin on her face. “Don’t you know, Tommy, that my big brother has taken a vow of celibacy? I expect him to join a monastery any day now.”

Oliver shook his head with fond exasperation. “That’s not going to happen. I’m just focusing on the other parts of my life. You know, the ones where my reputation doesn’t immediately put me at a disadvantage.”

“What disadvantage, Ollie?” Thea asked.

“Your brother believes that his increasingly distant playboy days still color people’s opinion of him. I keep telling him that that isn’t the case. I would think that Molly’s silent appreciation would be a clear indication that he’s wrong, but the big dummy won’t hear it,” Tommy explained.

“Molly is nice, but I think you should ask out Felicity, that girl you and Dad are always talking about at dinner,” Thea offered.

“Who’s Felicity?” Tommy asked, his interest definitely piqued.

“Well according to my Dad and my brother, she’s the smartest person at QC. She’s a tech genius and she’s saved the company, like, a billion times.”

“Ollie?” Tommy Merlyn looked at his best friend with a critical look. “Why haven’t I heard about this girl before?”

“Because my relationship with Felicity is more business-oriented than my relationship with Molly. I work with the woman every day. I …” Oliver’s explanation faded off as he couldn’t think of how else to illustrate why he couldn’t date Felicity.

“Does she work directly for you?” Tommy asked.

“No. Why?”

“Does she not like you?”

“She works for me or at least with me. It doesn’t matter whether she likes me or not.”

Thea, who had taken a seat next to her brother as Tommy questioned, offered, “Dad says that they’d make a great couple if the idiot here,” she pointed at Oliver, “would get his head out of his ass.”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s said, Thea.” Oliver said with more than just a hint of exasperation.

“That’s exactly what he said, doofus. You just weren’t listening.”

“Forget what Robert says,” broke in Tommy. “What does your mother have to say?”

“She hasn’t met her.”

“No, but after you and Dad talked her up, she was willing to give her a chance. That’s a pretty good sign, if you ask me?”

“Which I didn’t!” Oliver threw back.

The conversation fell quiet for a minute as Molly returned with the guys’ meals. “Can I get either of you gentlemen anything else?”

“Could I get a glass of water? I’m sorry, I should have asked before.” Oliver asked.

“Certainly. Ms. Queen, would you like anything?”

Thea smiled at her employee and shook her head. “I’m good, thanks Molly.”

“I’ll be right back with the water.” Molly assured Oliver before backing away from the table.

Tommy had taken a bite of the salmon, but laid his fork back down as the young server walked away.

“So, let me get this straight. You know a smart young woman who works for Queen Consolidated, but not for you directly, who apparently likes you, and yet you won’t ask her out.”

Oliver nodded, having just taken a bite of his sandwich.

Tommy looked from Oliver over to Thea and back to his best friend. “What am I missing?”

“In all seriousness, Ollie, are you never going to date again? I’d really like to have a sister-in-law to pal around with and I would really like to be an aunt. Preferably before I have children of my own.”

Oliver had finished chewing the food in his mouth, but he didn’t answer immediately. It’s not like he hadn’t asked himself the same question. Well, some variation of it at least.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. After things crashed and burned with Laurel and I realized just how badly I had treated her, I just stopped trying. And the longer I went without seeing anyone, the harder it was to see myself in a relationship.” He took a big breath and looked at Tommy. “I’m really glad that you and Laurel got together. She and I talked after you first asked her out and we both realized that we should have stopped trying to make our relationship work long before we did. The problem is, Laurel was the only woman I had ever pictured being together with, and I don’t know what that looks like now. What I pictured with Laurel was … wasn’t realistic. So I’m not sure what a real relationship really looks like.”

Oliver had bowed his head as he explained his thinking. He never expressed his feelings this plainly and he wasn’t sure what had prompted his revelations to Tommy and Thea, although if there were two people in the world he trusted, it was the two of them. He looked up to see both of them staring at him like he had grown a third eye in the center of his forehead.

“I’m … I’m sorry, Ollie. I didn’t mean to pry,” his sister said quietly.

Tommy, for once, didn’t have a snappy comeback. Instead, he offered one of the rare pearls of wisdom of which he was capable. “I get it, man. I honestly didn’t think my relationship with Laurel would play out as it has. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t very optimistic when I first asked her out. But it turns out that she and I just fit. And I think that’s the point, Ollie. When you find the right woman, you and she will just fit. Obviously, I don’t know if this Felicity is the one, but what I do know is that you won’t find out if you don’t ask.”

“He’s right, Ollie. And if Dad is willing to say that he thinks the two of you would be good together, then maybe it’s worth considering,” Thea added.

“Oliver nodded and shrugged. “You both make a good point. I’ll at least think about it. Can we just end the interrogation now?”

“Well, I need to get back to work, so I’ll leave the ongoing questions to Mr. Merlyn’s discretion. But there’s one more thing to consider, brother dear. If Felicity is as wonderful as you say, then you may not want to wait too long.”

Thea got up and moved off towards the bar. Oliver looked at Tommy, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

“I’m done. But Thea makes a good point.”

“Yeah, she does,” Oliver said, with just a hint of resignation in his voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Laurel Lance.
> 
> I had originally planned on posting a chapter every other day, but a nasty sinus infection really screwed Wednesday up, so this is me getting back on track. Chapter 4 will be posted on Monday and chapter 5 on Wednesday. There may be a chapter 6 as well; if so, that will be posted a week from today.
> 
> I do enjoy getting comments and thoughts on this story, so feel fine to drop a quick note in the comments. It may take a day or so, but I try to respond to everyone even if it is just a 'Thanks.'


	4. October - Laurel Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourth of five times someone observes Oliver's interactions with Felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laurel Lance sees Oliver and Felicity at lunch.

Laurel Lance was enjoying the rare lunch hour where she was actually able to escape her office and go out to eat. It would have been better if Tommy Merlyn had been sitting across from her, but he had bailed on her a couple of hours earlier with the explanation that his dad was dragging him into an important meeting with some new clients of Merlyn Global. Her boyfriend of a year was really starting to find his place at his father’s company and she had taken to encouraging him to grab every opportunity to prove himself. It seemed to be paying off; Malcolm Merlyn had given Tommy considerably more responsibility in the last six months and Tommy was actually enjoying his work.

Entering Susannah’s Café, Laurel briefly looked around as she moved to the counter. The café was busy, but the fact that it was already 12:45 meant that most of the patrons had gotten their food and were seated. She only waited a couple of minutes before she was at the counter. She ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad and a bottled water and pulled out a ten to pay for her food. Change in hand, she made her way over to a table near the front of the seating area and sat down. She glanced around again, checking to see if there was anybody she knew in the café.

She didn’t recognize anybody the first time around the room, but as the server put her salad down in front of her, she heard an unmistakable laugh coming from her right. She thanked the server for her food then glanced back to the source of the laugh. Sure enough, sitting in a booth three spots away from her was Oliver Queen, although she could only see the back of his head and his shoulders. His suit jacket was off and she noticed that his shoulders seemed broader now than when she had dated him several years earlier.

As they occasionally did, her thoughts went back to the years when she and Ollie had been together. Those times were contradictory: they provided both some of her best memories and her worst. When they clicked, they were a great couple. But when they were butting heads, then they just made life miserable for each other. She had come to realize that while she and Ollie were a lot alike, their outlooks and goals were completely different from one another. 

Strangely enough, despite the fact that Ollie had rarely been willing to reveal much of himself to her even during the good times, he was the one that finally pointed out that their relationship was never going to work. That conversation had been incredibly emotional, but Ollie had carefully reasoned through things and laid out his arguments for why they needed to stop trying to make things work. And unlike all the times she had been mad enough to chew nails because Ollie had done something incredibly selfish and immature, she walked away from their relationship the final time with a huge amount of respect for the man. Later came the relief that they were able to lay their troubled relationship to rest without destroying their friendship as well.

Still, hearing him laugh with such abandon with some other woman was difficult. That wasn’t something that Laurel expected from herself. She really thought that she was long past feeling any jealousy where Oliver Queen was concerned, but seeing him that relaxed with another woman was still difficult.

She was seated in an almost perfect location to see the woman that he was sitting with. She was blonde, although it was almost certainly dyed, and she had her hair pulled back into a high, neat ponytail. She wore glasses with a dark, two-toned rim. The glasses made her look smart, but didn’t detract from the fact that she was very pretty. She wore very understated makeup except for her lips. They were painted a bright pink that called attention to their fullness. The woman had on a pink silk blouse a couple of shades lighter than the lipstick and Laurel could see that she was slim. The rest of the outfit was hidden by the tabletop and booth.

As Laurel focused on them, listening more than watching while mindlessly picking at her salad, she could hear enough in the rapidly emptying café to pick up that they were talking about work. The blonde was trying to explain how some firewall technology would enhance Queen Consolidated’s network perimeter. Beyond that, the technical explanation was way beyond her. Ollie sat relaxed against the back of the booth, his left leg partially sticking out in the walkway. He was nodding his head occasionally in the same way she remembered, meaning that he was listening, but probably not really understanding what the woman was saying to him.

Even from behind though, Laurel could see that Ollie was focused on what the woman was saying. Laurel remembered plenty of conversations where Ollie had sat nodding his head at her just like that, trying to indicate that he was listening to her, but every time she would look at him, his eyes would be looking around trying to find something else to help grab his attention. He could never sit still long enough to really listen to her. The man she was watching now was obviously captivated by his companion. Her Ollie was clearly not the man now sitting just a few feet away from her.

The conversation between Ollie and the blonde was periodically punctuated by Ollie laughing, usually at the dramatic hand motions that accompanied whatever the woman was saying. Her hands were in almost perpetual motion, so much so that it took Laurel a few minutes to realize that her fingernails were painted an almost fluorescent blue. The color was so mesmerizing that Laurel spent almost a minute just trying to track the woman’s nails to confirm that she was indeed wearing something that bright and attention getting. Laurel wondered what kind of job allowed for the kind of bold statement the combination of lipstick and nail polish made and still be acceptable. She briefly tried to picture wearing something that eye catching, especially in the courtroom, but ultimately realized that even if it would be acceptable in her position, she would never feel comfortable with it.

When she looked up from her musing, she watched the woman reach over and steal several fries from Ollie’s plate. Laurel almost gasped. Ollie hated sharing food when they were together, but when the woman reached back for more and Ollie made a token gesture to block her, she slapped his hand away. Laurel could see more than hear him laugh this time and she clearly heard the woman chide him.

“Oliver. I don’t know why you bother; you know I’m going to finish those fries. That’s why you always get the large order.”

Ollie laughed again. Laurel heard his response this time. “You think you know so much, Felicity. You don’t.”

This time it was the blonde that laughed. “Really, Oliver? It’s been almost a year since the first time I stole some of your fries. The first few times you growled at me. Actually growled. But you never stopped me. Well, that weak hand block occasionally.” She pointed to where his left hand still lay on the table. “After about a month, you just started ordering the bigger order of fries and we been good ever since. Now what is it you think I don’t know?”

Ollie shook his head at her. “You’re impossible.”

The woman laughed again, more a musical tinkling than a human sound even to Laurel’s ears.

He glanced down at his watch. “We probably ought to head back. I’ve got that conference call with China at two-thirty and I want to look at that report one more time. I still think those numbers on the production rates are off, but I don’t know what to ask to get them to slip up and tell me what the problem is.”

At Oliver’s suggestion that they head back, the blonde had slid to the edge of the seat and swung her legs out to stand up. She was wearing a blue pencil skirt and a matching pair of modestly heeled Mary Jane pumps. Her legs weren’t slim, but were muscular and attractive. When she stood up, Laurel realized that she was fairly short. The skirt fell a few inches above her knees; it was still modest and professional, but it certainly accentuated her figure well.

“Is that the report you sent me yesterday?”

Oliver responded with just a nod.

“I think you are right. Something isn’t quite right. Do you want me to sit in on the call?”

“Do you have time?”

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t have any meetings this afternoon and I’m ahead on both of my current projects. Beside Wing Ni is a little scared of me. If they know I’m on the call, they might be a little more forthcoming.”

Oliver had stood up and as they talked, he took the Felicity’s jacket from her, holding it out so she could slip her arms into it. Once she had it on, Ollie reached over and grabbed his own jacket, swinging it onto one arm and then the other in one smooth motion. By the time he was done, the blonde had picked up her purse and was ready to go.

“Are you telling me that you are intimidating our Chinese employees?” Oliver asked, as he moved a hand to the woman’s back, stopping just shy of actually touching her.

Laurel was sure that she had never seen Oliver in gentleman mode quite like he was right now. He had always been polite and, in general, gentlemanly. But she could count the number of times that he had held her coat for her on one hand. And the hand on the back? She didn’t remember him ever doing that. He had always been tactile, but not like this. She wasn’t sure how to even describe his actions now, other than to again acknowledge a bit of jealousy.

Laurel was thankful that she was enough out of Ollie’s line of sight that he didn’t see her as the couple headed to the door of the café. She then realized it wouldn’t have mattered where she was sitting this afternoon. Oliver’s attention was solely focused on the woman next to him. While she and Ollie had been able to repair their friendship in the last couple of years, there was always going to be a minimal amount of tension between them. She knew that Ollie had felt guilty over his actions and that despite her reassurance that she had forgiven him, he was never 100% comfortable around her. He still avoided being alone with her, but was mostly comfortable when it was him, her and Tommy. Laurel was sure that her relationship with Tommy had helped the situation, and she knew that Oliver fully approved of her relationship with his best friend.

On a whim, she pulled out her phone and texted Tommy.

**Laurel: [1:15 pm] Is Ollie seeing anyone?**

**Tommy: That’s random! Not that I’m aware of. Why?**

**Laurel: Saw him at lunch with a very pretty blonde. She made him laugh!**

Laurel knew that that would pique Tommy’s interest. Ollie rarely laughed anymore and when he did, it wasn’t the relaxed laugh she had just heard a few minutes earlier.

**Tommy: I think he has lunch a couple of days a week with a tech whiz at the company. Name’s Felicia, maybe? He’s mentioned her a couple of times. Says she’s a genius.**

**Laurel: It's Felicity. I overheard him. But he isn’t dating her?**

**Tommy: No. He says she’s way too good for him. I don’t think he’s ever going to get over this “I’m not worthy of having a relationship” phase. Idiot.**

**Laurel: Yeah, I know. I’ve tried to tell him otherwise, but he won’t listen.**

**Laurel: Anyway, he was more relaxed than I have ever seen him. It was kind of scary.**

**Tommy: Interesting. Oh, gotta go. We’re getting ready to convince these customers to go with us. See U tonight?**

**Laurel: Yep! Good Luck.**

Laurel decided she’d had enough of the salad. She tidied up the remains of her meal and gathered her stuff. Glancing back over to the booth where Oliver had been sitting just minutes ago, she hoped that he would finally stop being so down on himself. She had felt from the moment he had stood up to her and declared their relationship over, that he deserved to find someone that could make him happy. Now he just needed to believe that was possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Thea Queen.


	5. Mid November - Thea Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifth of five times that someone observes Oliver and Felicity together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thea Queen gets a ringside seat to the Oliver and Felicity show!

“Oliver Jonas Queen!”

Thea Queen spun around from her position at the floor to ceiling glass wall overlooking the early afternoon vista of Starling City. She wasn’t sure what to expect from the sudden outburst of her brother’s name, but the fast moving blonde woman wasn’t it. Thea realized that the woman was short; or maybe about the same height she was, actually. She was dressed professionally, but stylishly. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she sported dark-rimmed glasses and the brightest pink lipstick Thea had ever seen. The woman’s voice was decidedly feminine, but right now it was loud. Thea relaxed back against the window, excited to see what kind of trouble her brother was in now.

For his part, Oliver’s eyes had snapped up at the sound of his name. His face initially had an almost grin on it, but the sight of the woman moving toward his desk erased the humor from his face and instead his brow crinkled with concern. He quickly ended the phone call he was on and directed his attention to human hurricane pulling up in front of him.

“Are you nuts? Completely nuts? I can’t believe you would cut so much out of my budget? We talked for hours, Oliver, on the necessity of upgrading all of those security boxes. Hours. I can’t execute the network security strategy that _you_ agreed we needed without putting in new equipment. And I can’t put in the new equipment if I don’t have the budget to buy them. Yet I get the newest budget draft this morning and I don’t see my hardware anywhere. An-E-Where!” The pretty blonde finally took a big breath.

“Felicity,” Oliver said patiently.

‘Ah,’ thought Thea. Maybe she was finally getting to witness the force of nature that was Felicity Smoak. Dozens of stories from her father and brother during family dinners had long ago sparked Thea’s interest in the woman.

The woman opposite Oliver ignored his attempt to explain. “This is really a step back, Oliver. I really thought you understood what I’m trying to do for the company. Do you remember all of those reports I showed you which clearly indicate that QC is seeing an increasing number of hackers attempting to breach the company’s network? Thank god, none of them are as good as I am. That’s what I’m trying to do, remember? Make sure that even someone as good as I am can’t get through the firewall.”

“Felicity!”

Thea and Felicity both startled at the sudden increase in volume as Oliver’s raised voice finally broke through Felicity’s focus. Her eyes snapped up from the report she had been energetically waving around. Oliver was now smiling at her, the concern gone from his face.

“Can I see the report for a second, please?” he asked in his normal tone.

Felicity looked back down at the report in her hands and back up to the man in front of her. Up until now, Thea realized that Felicity had avoided looking at Oliver because she was focused on the packet of paper in her hand, but now her focus had been broken, Thea watched as Felicity looked up at Oliver. A myriad of emotions crossed her face: the remaining irritation, admiration, fondness, but then a curious look settled across her features. From the side, Thea wasn’t sure how to read that look.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she handed him the report.

He turned it around and looked at the top of the report. Nodding to himself, he flipped through several pages until he found the one he wanted. He folded over the top pages to expose the page he wanted and handed the report back to her, turning the document so that it was top up for her.

Oliver then explained in a soft voice, “I know I occasionally screw things up, but you should know better than to think I would cut your budget without consulting you first. You printed off the categorized report. All of your hardware items are grouped with the rest of the hardware costs. You should have printed off the report organized by department. All of your stuff is lumped together properly there.”

Felicity closed her eyes for a minute, obviously composing herself. When she opened them again, Thea was pleased to see that the fire was still there.

“Who sorts a budget report that way anyway? That doesn’t make any sense. And now it’s led me to come in here and make a complete fool of myself.”

“For the record, the finance department _likes_ the categorized report. They want to see all of the proposed expenditures grouped by category. And while this morning was certainly entertaining, you have burst into my office far angrier than this. And most likely over something far sillier. Besides, you know I look forward to these moments.” He managed to limit his satisfaction to a smile as he finished rather than the outright grin he wanted to react with.

Oliver briefly glanced over to the windows to his sister. Thea almost laughed, but she really didn’t want to interrupt the moment.

The blonde looked at Oliver and said, “So my budget’s intact? All of it?”

“Absolutely. In fact, I asked that an extra five percent be added to both your hardware and software totals for unexpected costs. You’ll be able to adjust what you are doing without even consulting me. Not that you really need to. You know that.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess you didn’t screw up my budget after all.” Felicity blushed at the clear indication of Oliver’s faith in her, even as she tried to maintain something of her position in this matter.

She started to turn to leave, but pivoted back towards Oliver. “Wait. Did you just say you looked forward to these episodes, Oliver? That’s sick. And you’re ridiculous. So I am going to go back to my office and get back to work. I will probably start by finding the budget report that makes sense to me, so I can figure out what to start on first. You should get back to work as well. This company doesn’t run itself, you know.” The blonde paused as she realized what she had been saying.

“Three … Two … One. That’s it’s. I’m leaving.”

She turned on her heel and strode out of Oliver’s office with the same determination she had entered it just minutes before, leaving the Queen siblings looking at each other. Both Oliver and Thea heard Felicity mutter to herself as she left the office, “Oh dear god, Felicity, could you be any more awkward. You just told your boss to get back to work.”

Thea waited until Felicity was out the door and almost back to the elevators before she sashayed back over to Oliver’s desk.

“Sooooooooo. That’s Felicity? Oh, so much of what you’ve said at family dinners makes sense now.” Thea started laughing as she approached the chair sitting in front of Oliver’s desk and slouched down. It took her a good minute before she got control of herself, but when she looked at her brother, she starting laughing again. Oliver was sitting in his chair with the biggest grin on his face that she had ever seen.

It took him a minute, but he finally looked up at his sister. “What?”

“Oh, you have it bad, don’t you, brother of mine. When’s the wedding?”

“Wedding? What are you talking about?”

Thea’s eyes twinkled with mischievousness. “I can only presume that the woman who just left here will be my sister-in-law sooner or later. She’s fabulous. And she has you wrapped around her little finger.”

“My dating Felicity would be highly inappropriate, don’t you think? Considering that she works for me. And how did you get all of that out of that little visit, anyway? She was arguing about her budget, for God’s sake.”

“I don’t think I have ever seen one of the employees storm into Dad’s office and tell him off without thinking twice. She completely owns you. She was yelling at you and all you could do was smile, Ollie. And you thinking you can’t date her is nonsense. A lot of great relationships start because the couple worked together. Ollie, I have never seen you so captivated by a woman as you are by her. I’m going to guess she storms in here on a regular basis and you grin happily every time she does.”

Oliver looked at his sister and decided he wasn’t going to bother trying to lie to her. “Thea, I have never met anyone remotely like Felicity. I’m so far out of her league, I don’t know where to begin.”

Thea grinned. “What happened to playboy Ollie? This wouldn’t be a challenge for him.”

“Felicity wouldn’t give playboy Ollie a first glance. She’s smart enough she would see playboy Ollie’s crap a mile away.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not playboy Ollie then, isn’t it? Really, just be yourself because I’m guessing that the dynamic Miss Smoak already likes him.”

“How do you figure?”

“She was comfortable enough to come in here and read you the riot act. I wouldn’t be surprised if she weren’t already just as smitten with you as you are with her. Neither of you have figured it out yet is all.” She grinned and then Oliver saw the moment that her thoughts turned to something more.

“Oh, I even know how I can help!”

Thea laughed at the look of concern on her brother’s face.

“No, really, Ollie. This will be good. Let’s invite her to the annual Christmas charity event and you can charm her there. It will give both of you a neutral environment. It will be perfect.”

Oliver looked doubtful, but he gave Thea some leeway. “I think you should at least invite her. She definitely deserves something like that after all she does for the company.”

“Good. I may have some questions for you later,” Thea promised, waggling her eyebrows as she got up and left the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite all time Arrow scene may be Felicity confronting Oliver in the office at the beginning of 2x02. Hopefully, I captured even a smidgen of the fire that Emily Bett Rickards brings to the character here.
> 
> There will be a plus one featuring Felicity and her mother. It may not be posted until Monday - RL strikes again!


	6. Early December - Donna Smoak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one time someone offers some advice to Felicity on her relationship with Oliver Queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felicity hasn't seen it very much in her life, but Donna can offer motherly insight and advice. Who knew?

Donna Smoak was a very proud Jewish mother. Her daughter, Felicity Meghan Smoak, was a smart, clever and beautiful girl. She had conquered one of the toughest colleges in the United States and had been at the top of her class – graduating early and with two Masters degrees, no less. She was now employed by one of the best companies in the world and was making an impact, according to everything she relayed back to her mother.

But Donna was still concerned, as any good Jewish mother would be, about the fact that her daughter, who was now the very mature age of twenty-three, was not only not married and without children, but was not even in any type of relationship. Donna may not have had the best experience with her own marriage, but it was simply outrageous that her daughter was not concerned about that aspect of her life. Well, Felicity wasn’t concerned at least as far as Donna could tell.

As Donna prepared for her weekly phone call to Felicity, her mind always turned to her concerns for her daughter. And as she did every week, she shook them off. It was important to Donna that their phone calls went well. Their relationship had been a struggle for a long time, and while they were in a much better place now, there were times when Felicity was way too guarded in Donna’s opinion. So Donna quickly thought about a couple of things she could tell Felicity about her own life from the past week and tried to remember anything from their last call or two that she could follow up on with Felicity without seeming like she was being too nosy. Proper frame of mind set, she pressed the button on her phone to call her daughter.

Felicity answered the call on the second ring. Donna wasn’t surprised. She knew that Felicity’s phone was constantly by her side, so for her to answer a call quickly was pretty much the norm.

“Hey, Mom,” Felicity answered brightly. Donna was always encouraged when her daughter answered in a good mood.

“Hi, baby. How’s everything in Starling?”

“Things are good. I’ve been busy because we’re getting close to the end of the year, but things have been good.”

“That’s good. How’s your love life? Did you have a date last night?” Donna asked.

Donna rolled her eyes at her comment, then immediately felt thankful that Felicity couldn’t see her. So much for her plan not to irritate her daughter, she realized a minute too late. She knew that Felicity would much rather talk about work, if given a choice. Donna, on the other hand, really wanted to know about her daughter’s social life. Sadly, those details were never as forthcoming.

“No Mom. I did not have a date last night. There’s no love life. I’ve told you this before.” Donna heard the note of exasperation in Felicity’s voice.

“But, honey…”

“Mom, it’s not that I don’t want a love life. It’s just not my highest priority right now. I get plenty of social interaction at work since I got promoted. And even if I didn’t have to talk to a lot of different people most days, Oliver usually finds a way to bug me at least once a day.”

“Oliver? Oliver Queen? Ooooooooohh.”

“Mom! How can you make Oliver’s name sound dirty?”

Donna grinned, feeling fortunate again that her daughter couldn’t see her. “That’s not what I was trying to do,” she said with a bit of a whine.

“That exactly what you were doing.”

“Yes, and I don’t see any reason not to ask if you’ve gotten some of that yet.”

“Moooom! Please. Oliver is my boss. He is also my friend. But our relationship is just not like that!”

“I know, Felicity. You tell me that every time we talk. But I’ve noticed that while Oliver still occasionally makes the tabloids, he’s no longer the subject of some scandel. As a matter of fact, the only woman I’ve seen in pictures with him has been you.”

“”Yes, we are in pictures together because we’re either involved in work projects or I’ve helped him with some fundraising project. Then whenever there’s a public announcement or some event to publicize QC projects he makes me attend. I usually tell him I don’t need any recognition, but he never listens to me.”

“Maybe that his subtle way of telling you he wants more,” Donna said with a little more of her suggestiveness than normal.

“Yeah, no. Mom, let me give you just one example of why he wouldn’t want more. I walked into his office two weeks ago telling him he’d screwed up my budget. He hadn’t, I had just printed the wrong report. When I left, I told him to get back to work because the company wasn’t going to run itself. Mom, I embarrass myself like this in front of him on a regular basis. I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m partially crazy. Definitely not dating material.”

“Not sure I agree, but fine. I’ll take your word for it.” Donna decided to give up on that tack for the moment. “So tell me about work then.”

Felicity launched into an enthusiastic explanation of a couple of projects that she was working on. Donna caught that the first one was some security programming that Felicity was creating. It was going to be groundbreaking if Felicity got it to do what she wanted it to do. When Felicity took a breath, Donna asked a follow up question she hoped was appropriate. She had been listening to Felicity describe her projects for years, so while she still didn’t understand most of what Felicity talked about, she had learned how to convey that she was interested in her daughter’s work and that she was proud of her. She apparently got it right this time as Felicity thanked her for the compliment and agreed that it should be good for her career.

Felicity then moved on to talking about some gadget that she was helping develop for Queen Consolidated. Donna was able to follow this more closely, and she understood that Felicity was directly responsible for making sure that the device was going to be secure. And there was something about an Internet of Things, but that made less sense. When Felicity paused, Donna asked what she hoped was a proper question and felt pretty good when Felicity agreed with her.

Donna was about to go ahead and tell Felicity a story about a customer she had had to deal with a couple of days earlier when Felicity started up again. This time, Donna quickly devoted her full attention to her daughter.

“Oh, you’ll like this, Mom. So I’m sitting in my office last Tuesday, pretty much minding my own business and deep into my programming project when Thea Queen explodes into my space. And trust me when I say she exploded into my space! I don’t think Thea Queen does anything subtly. Anyway, she came in to invite me to the annual Queen Family Christmas Fundraising Dinner. And she made it sound like the whole Queen family would be disappointed if I didn’t come.”

“Who’s Thea Queen?” Donna asked, the name not ringing any bells.

“She’s Oliver’s younger sister. I think she just turned eighteen. Oliver says that he managed to convince her not to follow in his footsteps a couple of years ago. He says she’s been doing really good in school and hopes to go in fashion design or something.”

“Do you know her?”

Felicity laughed. “It sometimes feels like I do. Oliver talks about her all the time, but last week was the first time I’ve met her. She seems really nice, though.”

Donna thought through what Felicity had just told her and then asked what she felt was the most important question. “Why did she invite you? I mean, I know you’ve said that you do some important things for the company, so were you invited because of that?”

“To be honest, Mom, I don’t know. I asked around quite a bit, but most people at the company, including most of my bosses, say that they’ve never been invited to this particular event. It’s a fundraiser that Oliver’s mom does every year for the Starling City hospitals. I think they typically just invite a bunch of rich people.”

“You weren’t invited so you’ll donate, were you? I assume you make pretty good money, but do you make that much?”

Felicity laughed, but Donna could detect a sudden nervousness to it. “Well, I hope not. I donate a little at work to a couple of charities, but I don’t think I’ll be able to donate at the fundraiser. I really don’t think that’s why I was invited, though.”

“Do you think Oliver was the one who really invited you?”

“No, I really don’t,” Felicity said. Donna was pretty sure she could hear some uncertainty in the younger woman’s voice.

“Are you going to go?”

“Yes. Thea kind of made me promise I would go. Otherwise, I’m not sure I would.”

“Why not Felicity?”

“Mom. I’m not exactly the most graceful person. And I just feel out of place. There’s another reason that I don’t think Oliver and I would ever work. He thrives in that environment; I just feel like I’m one stumble away from embarrassing myself completely.”

Felicity’s lack of confidence alarmed Donna and prompted her to do something she hadn’t done since Felicity was a little girl, and even then she didn’t do it very often. Donna pulled out her mom persona.

“Felicity, I’m going ask you something and I want you to be honest with me. Completely honest.” Donna voice no longer had any of the whimsy and giddy excitement that it normally contained.

“Oh-kay.”

“How do you really feel about Oliver Queen?”

“Mom…”

“Be honest.”

There was a long silence. Neither woman was very good with quiet gaps in conversation, but Donna knew that her daughter was thinking and she wasn’t going to interrupt that process.

“It’s hard to explain, Mom. Oliver’s a great guy. He really is, but I … I’m afraid that if I let myself even think about him as more than a friend, then I’m just going to get hurt.”

“You know how I’ve always told you that your father just took off on us?”

“Yeah?” Felicity drew out the simple word, clearly questioning where her mother was going.

Donna sighed. “That’s not really the truth. Well, not the complete truth. I loved your father, Felicity. He loved me. He really loved you. He loved your passion for tech and your brilliance and your sunny disposition. But he was a criminal, Felicity. And, at least some of the time, he loved that life even more than the two of us. I put up with that, knowing that at some point, he might end up leaving us. Most likely because he had been stupid enough to get caught. But when his criminal activities and the people he associated started approaching me, making his problems my problems, I made it perfectly clear that Noah was on his own.”

“What you mean, Mom?”

“One of his associates stopped me one night at work. Said that he was worried that Noah was maybe taking a little more than he was due. I told him that I didn’t know nothing about what Noah was doing and that he’d have to take that up with Noah directly. The guy believed me – that time. But I knew that I had to get you away from him. So I told him what had happened and that he needed to leave. He didn’t want to, but I told him if he wasn’t leaving, I was. So he took off. And we moved shortly after that. We needed to because I couldn’t afford the house by myself, but it was also so Noah’s associates couldn’t easily find me.”

Donna couldn’t quite figure out what Felicity was feeling when she heard her daughter’s next question. There was some heat to it, but confusion as well.

“So you’re telling me that you made Dad leave? You ran him off?”

“I had to, baby. If I hadn’t, something bad would have happened to us. Fortunately, Noah could see that, too.”

“What’s your point, Mom?” There was the anger.

“There’s a couple of points to this, I suppose. The first is that you have to be able to balance love with real life. When you first told me that you had met and were getting to know Oliver Queen, I was a little worried. I may have oohed and aahed about you knowing him, but I also knew that Oliver came with a lot of baggage and I was afraid that you were going to get sucked into that.”

“Oliver would never…”

“I know that now,” Donna said more sharply than she intended. “I also know that you’re a smart girl, Felicity, and while Cooper took advantage of you, I had faith that you were going to be smarter the next time around. Oliver was a different kind of trouble than Cooper, though. I’m your mother and I just didn’t want you to get hurt again.”

There was a pause before Felicity finally said in a small voice, “Yeah, well you can't get hurt if you don’t try. And I’m still not sure about trying again, Mom.”

“That’s the second point, Felicity. You can't go through life avoiding things. Especially if there’s a lot of rewards to be had. From everything you tell me, I think there’s probably a lot of rewards to be had with Oliver.” There was a pause. “And I’m not talking about the obvious here, Felicity.”

“I don’t know, Mom. It’s not like Oliver dates much either. May he doesn’t want to try.”

“Why is that, Felicity?”

“Oliver hates his past. Maybe more than I hate what happened with Cooper. I don’t think he’s dated anyone since I’ve known him. He tells me enough stories about his weekends that I’m pretty sure that I would have known. He’s never said it directly, but I think he’s very much worried his reputation will ruin any relationship.”

“Does his past worry you?”

“No, it doesn’t,” said Felicity a little reluctantly.

“I don’t know if I can fully explain it, Mom. Oliver has always treated me like an equal. Quite frankly, I have never known anyone that respects me more than Oliver does. I know he appreciates me for what I can contribute to the company. He also appreciates me when I help him with personal projects. He has always been on my side at work as well. There are guys – product managers and junior executives – that don’t respect me. Oliver has put several of them in their place. I think he may have fired one guy for the way he treated me, but the guy deserved it for a bunch of reasons anyway.”

“Does he think you’re pretty?”

“What’s that have to do with anything?”

“Does he think you’re pretty?”

Felicity sighed. “Yeah, I think he does. He compliments me when it’s appropriate, but he’s always been a gentleman about it. Matter of fact, he’s always a gentlemen around me.”

“Does he treat other women the same way?”

“What?”

“I asked if he treats other women the way he treats you.”

Felicity was silent again, thinking. “I don’t know, Mom. He is always a gentleman, but honestly I don’t see him spending much time with any other women.” Then she got a little defensive. “I don’t spend that much time with him, Mom.”

“Felicity, you asked me what my point was. It’s this. I hear the way you describe Oliver and his actions around you. I see the pictures of the two of you together. I don’t think that he sees your relationship as strictly platonic. Have you read any of his recent interviews?”

“What? Why would I read his interviews?”

Donna tsked. “Oh, please. Don’t lie to me, baby. I’m sure you’ve read more of them than I have. Oliver is a man who wants to rehabilitate his image. He knows what people think of him because of his past and he desperately wants to change that. I think that’s why he never indicates he want more. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t, though.”

“I don’t know, Mom.”

“Felicity, I was worried about Oliver taking advantage when you first said you knew him. Now I’m worried that both of you are too afraid to take another chance. It sounds to me that the two of you make a really good match. You need to really think about whether the rewards are going to be greater than the risk.”

“Wow. You’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, haven’t you, Mom?”

“Oh, baby, I just want the best for you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Felicity was quiet again for a couple of minutes. “I’ll have to think about this, Mom. I still don’t know, but you make some logical arguments. What I really want to know is, if I do decide to date Oliver, assuming he is interested in that, are you going to be able to handle that like a normal person? You know, no squealing and acting like a 10-year old?

Donna laughed. “Oh, baby, I’m probably going to embarrass you more than I ever have before.”

Felicity laughed and then tells her mother, “Good to know.”

“Okay, now let’s talk about really important things. What are you going to wear to the fundraiser? You’ve got to knock his socks off, you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of this set of prequel vignettes. What started out as character exercises took on a life of their own. I hope everyone has enjoyed these. I would love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading.


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